


Eleven

by A_Undomiel



Series: The paths we choose [11]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:00:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21961735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Undomiel/pseuds/A_Undomiel
Summary: She heard him screaming savagely; felt his hands cracking the controls of the ship and the Dark pooling, hungry for blood.The Knights reached for their weapons, as Rey discarded the handcuffs, which dropped to the ground with a loud thump. She raised her hand,  directing a blow to the nearest praetorian. The giant staggered, the armour absorbing the shock: enough time for her to reach for the lightsaber tucked inside her boot.The blue light ignited and the knights shielded her against the first charge of the guard. They aligned in perfect formation, wielding their different melee weapons.“Its four of us and seven of them” Naomi spat, throwing away the hat, gripping her spear and clicking it into life. It hummed with electricity.“Good odds"' Rodsu answered, grinning and licking his lips, the two blades flowing neatly in his hands. None of them had lightsabers, which Rey found odd for some reason. She could feel Ben pounding against their bond, his adrenaline pushing her forward, to fight.There was a slight taste of blood inside her mouth. Her entrails coiled. The monster reared its ugly head, breaking the ranks and launching itself on the praetorians with a primal scream.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: The paths we choose [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/970584
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Eleven

**Author's Note:**

> Dear all: I know it's been a long time. My life has taken some twists and turns which took away most of the time I had to write. I am sorry. However, I am not the kind of person that leaves things unfinished. I will want to finish it, but first I need to get a satisfying conclusion to Ep IX out of my head. That will take some time to do, so the final chapter of Paths will be finished after it. Stay with me, only one chapter left for the conclusion! As always, some encouragement is always good, especially if you love the story as I do. Thank you so much for being there!

**ELEVEN**

His eyes were resting on the back of her neck. He was following a trickle of sweat that emerged from her thick mass of chestnut hair - now tied in desert style custom. He wished they were back in their cot, their bubble of contentedness, with his lips on her and the sweat running free into his mouth.

She was walking towards the entrance, trying to push away the wanting into the back of her mind, the mission too important to lose herself now. There would be time for that.

A ringing in his inner ear made him stop for a moment, while she continued towards the round entrance, the branches and dried vines creeping in and surrounding it, like veins and arteries of a giant beast. He took another step forward and this time he could feel it, that sting he had felt so many times in the past. He raised his hand towards Rey.

“Rey, stop!”

She turned just in time to avoid a blast coming from outside the cave. Rey yelped and dropped to her left, her back crashing against the dried branches. Ben was beside her in a breath.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, concern straining his voice. She quickly checked if there were any damages, her hands bumping into his arms and body as she tried to concentrate on any injury.

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” she shouted, her fingers closing around the lightsaber, ready to ignite it. Ben jumped back, turning to the cave entrance. That feeling...it had been so long ago, he had almost forgotten about it. But the body remembered.

“Have I got your attention?” a voice shouted from outside. It was clear and crisp, like a cold wind. Rey blinked - it was a woman’s voice. She looked at Ben and saw in his face that he recognized it, and felt him recoil from her.

“Who is it?”

He turned to her and took a deep breath. “Help, maybe. If not, then…” he looked at Rey’s hand still clutching her weapon. "Keep a safe distance. Don't reach for the lightsaber..”

He raised his hands in surrender and stepped outside into the light with Rey following close enough. She raised her hand, forcing her eyes to adjust to the biting desert sun. As her eyes adjusted, she could see Ben’s silhouette emerging with the surroundings: a desert sea lay before them, infinite.

She couldn’t help smiling, remembering the peace she had felt in Jakku, in the early hours of the morning. But has her eyes fell over the dark figures below them, she felt that peace draining away, and her heart shrank, recognizing the group from her vision, back at Maz’s castle.

She remembered Kylo Ren, charging towards her. She looked at Ben, afraid the vision would materialize before her once more. He twitched, feeling her fear.

“Never” he murmured, as clear as if he was speaking in her ear. She closed her eyes, following his descent towards the figures waiting below.

Rey turned back and she could spot the wing of her cruiser - it was still there.

The six were dressed in black clothes, made of a rough spun fiber, proper for the desert. Rey remembered their heavy coats and armor from her vision - but under the daylight, they did not look as threatening. One thing was clear: she could feel the Force warping and humming between them, like they were talking to each other. A language she couldn’t understand, but Ben could.

He brought his hands down, nodding.

One of them walked towards him, until he was at an arm’s length. The helmet had been split and fixed, and the three eye slits turned to Rey for a moment. She straightened, her mind closing around herself. The figure startled, paused, and then turned to Ben once more.

After a moment that seemed like an eternity, there as a quick movement, a hiss, and out came the helmet, revealing a set of snow-white curls, blue-opal cat-like eyes and a set of feline white teeth. The mouth settled into an iron smile.

“Hello Ben Solo” she whispered in that cool, crisp voice of hers. She eyed him from feet to face, assessing his clothes. Her hand reached for his scar and traced it until it rested over his right temple and stayed there. Her mouth stretched into a grin, almost forcefully. Rey could see that the woman did not smile very often.

“It was about time” she said before her hands slid around his neck and Rey gasped as the intruder reached for his mouth and kissed him intensely.

Ben made no movement. She was pressed against his body violently, in a familiar way, trying to coerce a reaction out of him. But he remained still, all the while focusing on Rey, feeling their thread taunt and vibrate, on the verge of snapping. The woman stopped and her eyes opened, shooting daggers at the scavenger. Rey felt the Force ringing in her ears and the tingling on her fingertips, hitching to reach for the lightsaber and strike.

As if sensing danger, the woman stepped away. She forced out a laugh to show that she was not shaken from his lack of reaction.

“Kat” he spoke deeply, the tone grave and telling.

The woman flinched, the head lowering a bit, automatically, only to straighten in the following second. She spat and her face relaxed into a comfortable ease.

He then went through each of the knights, announcing their names with gravitas, as if he was doing a rolling call.

“Naomi”, a Cathar. “Rodsu”, a Korun. “Hiram”, a mandalorian. “Jin”, a sentient. “Dalax”, a human.

“I thought you hated sand”, she remarked, “like your grandfather” her eyes dashing nervously at Rey.

The knights chuckled, removing their helmets in turn, with the exception of the mandalorian. They blinked, exposing their faces to the bright Tatooine sun. Somehow, Rey had imagined the Knights of Ren like droids, destitute of stories, serving one Master. But, apart from Kat, they looked ordinary, like people she could have met at any station on Jaku. Scavengers, like her.

Rey had a flash of the first time she saw Ben’s face and how it was completely different to what she had expected. How a moment of bewilderment, spun from looking into two dark and bottomless eyes, turned into a fight of pain and will, like breaking a wall with her own fists. Automatically she clenched her hands.

Ben looked at each of their faces, continuing an unspoken conversation. Rey could feel it, running back and forth as their faces changed and shifted from anger to regret, from doubt to sorrow. Kat was looking at Ben with watery eyes, sadness and wonder mingling. Rey knew what that look meant: she had seen it in Poe. 

“I thought you wanted freedom, to serve as you pleased”, Ben's voice was tinted with the commanding shadow of Kylo Ren. The korun, Rodsu, must have felt the dark undertone and stepped forward.

“We serve the Force.”

Something crossed over Ben’s face and Rey felt a needle thin pain in her heart. “I remember your original inclinations”, the anger now visible in the strained voice. Rodsu’s mouth trembled slightly before crossing his arms and raising his chin, which Ben took as defiance.

“Was it the Force that told you to turn your back on me?” his voice heavy with the resentment of unsolved business.

There was a microsecond pause of shock. But then, like the aftermath of a bomb, the weight of the sentence fell all at once among the crowd. Turmoil ensued: angry shouts and curses, some of them reaching for their weapons while being held off by their companions. The ground shook and pounded, whipped by the dark vibration of the Force. Rey felt it, inside of her, calling to join them. The monster, rising its head above them. Her hand, wanting to reach her lightsaber and strike. 

Kat turned back and started shouting, bellowing commands. Gradually, the party calmed down and fell in line, albeit reluctantly. The human, Dalax, spat to the floor before shaking his shoulders. After another warning, the white-maned woman turned to Ben, proudly showing her control over the knights. Her face was bright and radiant, beautiful.

That only made Rey angrier.

The needle-like sting festered quickly inside. It sprouted a rage inside her: she would not be ignored. She was in control. The dark pit within her filling up and expanding in delight. Ben flinched and turned too late. The ground shook with violence and rocks shoot up like pellets towards the group, who had only a few seconds to defend themselves.

All six of them assumed protective stances and tried to block Rey’s offensive, but it was clear that it was a loser's game. This time, it was she who had the higher ground, and was using it accordingly. The group yelled and wailed, feeling the brute force ramming against them unrepentantly.

But, as sudden as it started, it stopped. Kat fell to the ground, panting as the rest, regaining control in order to emerge again. This time, she would be ready for another strike. She closed her eyes, feeling the Force invade her. She turned...and her heart sank.

Ben was wrapped around the girl in a locked embrace. Kat felt the breath leaving her lungs, crushed by the power they emanated. Never in all her life had the Force sung so loudly or as strongly as it did in that moment. She looked at her companions, the same question whispering through their own bond.

“That’s for shooting first”, Rey’s voice sounded clear and crisp.

She stepped forward, above them. And Kat could _see_ _it_ : darkness and light, glowing in her eyes. The scavenger noticed it and blinked, not wanting to give away how affected the white-haired woman made her feel.

Ben stepped closer, and placed his hand on Rey’s shoulder, his thumb rubbing her slightly. Kat’s eyes narrowed. 

“Why are you here?” he asked.

Kat came closer, this time talking directly at Rey.

“Leia Organa sent us”

_____

“Are you questioning my authority, general?”

Hux strutted around the table, his eyes ice and face as set as stone. The air of confident smugness was gone. A mere flinch in the corner of his mouth set events in motion, prompting General Trisk to shrink into his seat upon hearing the clinking of plastoid armor drawing closer behind him. He ventured a peak over his shoulder, and saw a black-gloved hand tightening around a melee weapon.

“What I am saying” he ventured, in a shaky voice “is that if we destroy the remnants of the Alliance, there is a risk that others will rebel, even without a Galactic Concord.”

Hux frowned, considering that chance. Certainly, that could be a possibility but he had pocketed enough systems in his dealings for Snoke and the First Order that an immediate retaliation would be unlikely.

The reprimand didn’t came and General Trisk felt some of the tension easing from his shoulders. At least, it was enough to venture into further advising. “We are not strong enough to take on the entire mid-rim system”.

Hux became dead calm. Slowly, he looked around the table, going by each one of the councilmen. Some kept closed faces and lowered stares. Others were looking nervously at the Praetorians.

Silence. Trisk continued, his voice surer. “If we make them martyrs, there will be no end to this war” he ventured, forcing the fear down his throat, his right hand resting inconspicuously over his blaster. “I don’t think Supreme Leader Ren…”

There was a swift wind, a vibrant sound and a red splash, as the head of General Trisk rolled over the table, towards the man on the opposite end. There was a joint gasp, as some averted their eyes from the scene.

“I AM THE SUPREME LEADER” Hux shouted, angry as ever, the speckles of blood adding a horrid tinge to an already gruesome spectacle. As if waiting for that command, the praetorians shuffled in unison, their weapons drawn and ready. Every general from the high council looked at one another.

Hux pushed down the hem of his jacket, and rubbed his hand over his face, the blood straying across it.

“The Republic dies today. No one will dare to face the fire power that is mounted on this ship. Today we finish what no one could before, not even Kylo Ren. Not even Snoke. And the Galaxy will bow to the First Order and its Supreme Leader.”

He leaned over the table, unable to hide the taste of victory, of his ambition fulfilled. He paused, composing himself, and clasped his hands behind his back. The leather crackled, just the way he liked it.

“If you are thinking of your pockets – fear not. There is a lot of trade to control and syndicates to stir things as we please. Systems will pay for protection. Protection that only we can provide.”

Everyone kept quiet as the information sank, adding another layer of corruption to an already festering Order. The purity of control of Snoke and Ren was gone. Now, it was their time. 

One General shot up his seat.

“All hail the Supreme Leader!” he shouted, chin up, nostrils flared,with the excitement of the inevitable triumph.

The cheer was quickly followed by the rest of the council, albeit some quicker than others. Hux did not failed to notice it.

“Hail the Supreme Leader!”

Armitage could not prevent a sneer that mixed disgust with conceit. This was his plan A, unfolding at last. Behind were the petty theft, his father, Snoke and Ren. The “now” was there for the taking at last.

“Generals, all stations ready. We move to Chandrila, at once”

The party quickly disassembled and began to move out of the room. One of the younger officers remained behind, his eyes fixed on the severed head of his colleague, the blood oozing over the table, thick and rich-scented. Hux stepped closer, intending to scare him. The young man turned around and, for a moment, Armitage felt like he was seeing his father, his eyes sharp as steel, always censuring him.

The memory shook him.

“I am sorry, Supreme Leader. We haven’t had any contact from Commander Vlako about the security procedures. Shouldn’t it be wise to wait…Sir?”

Hux turned his back to the man, trembling. He bit his lip hard before answering.

_ “I am tired of waiting father” _ he mumbled.

“Excuse me, Sir?”

He turned around.

“I said, we move to Chandrila. Do not question orders, or your head will join your friend’s on the table”.

_____

The ship resembled just another Corelian cargo ship, like so many others that may have come and gone through Jakku. But Rey knew better. Her trained scavenger eye ran through every nook and crevice of the ship and had to restrain herself from becoming giddy and excited. It was just like when she found a new piece of machinery. 

Ben was sitting in a corner, observing. He had remained silent since the confrontation with the Knights, in favour of focusing on the task ahead. A task which his mother found important enough to send help. He swallowed the lump in his throat, only to purse his lips the second after, feeling the ups and downs of Rey’s excitement, every time she surprised over something. For him the ship was an old friend and held no surprises: his father and Chewie had retrofitted it, back in the day. 

Kat entered the room and it was like his heart turned ice cold. He looked at Rey, her back to them, still looking over the dashboard. He resented that.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Kat's cold voice cut through the silence like a knife. Rey turned, her face void of emotion. 

"It will work," Ben replied before giving her a chance, "new weapons are always screened. A lesson learned from previous attempts''. He paused, tasting the irony, "Not even Hux can override protocol." 

Kat snorted her disbelief, before she raised the helmet for him to take. He reached for it, recognizing the same shape, the slits. It was his old helmet, before he had joined Snoke in high command. 

Ben remembered the day he left it behind, with his Knights, the ones who had been with him since that fateful night with Luke. They had shared with him the rage for the Jedi and what they represented; they had mingled with him between Light and Darkness, until finally he had buried himself too deep for them to follow. 

They wanted to be free from the decision to choose a path. He had been forever trapped by it. When he decided to join the First Order he was expecting them to follow him, like always. The next day, however, they were gone. 

"Do you think they will buy it?" 

Ben looked at Kat, his heart betraying him. The memories of what they had shared bubbled to the surface. She had been his first; a lifeline connecting him to sanity when things worsen, but never strong enough for him to change. No love, just relief and comradery. But, it hadn't been the same for her; he felt the twitch of guilt, when before there was only indifference. He looked at Rey, seeing her hands flex in an obvious attempt to hide her feelings. 

"They will. There are always two master codebreakers. If Jin is still up to the task, that is." 

"You know he is. How many times he got us into the Republic's defense system?" she eyed Rey, waiting for a reaction, but she remained impassive."Where will you be?" she added, her chin pointing at Rey. 

Rey turned to the dashboard, finding comfort in the warning lights and power switches. 

"Paying back a promise" she replied. 

Ben’s fingers dig into his legs, unaware of Kat's eyes roaming over him, seeing his twitches in response. There was a glee in her eye.

"Fine. Better to be out of the way, we don't need to draw more attention. We will be landing soon, so be ready to change ships. And you…" she paused, mischievously, "...should change clothes".

Ben had to force himself out of the frantic push and pull of the bond to be able to process the information. He looked at his uniform, feeling unhappy about returning to the black look so soon. 

As quick as Kat left, Ben felt the jolt of Rey’s fury. In a blink he was beside her, as she punched the dashboard hard. He pinned her arms to her side, preventing her from further damaging the ship. She fought and squirmed, but the grip remained solid. 

"Stop" he demanded. 

" _ Better be out of the way _ ?" she spat back. 

An image flooded his mind: him shouting in anger; her, with Poe's hands resting over her arms. She stopped and shoved him, forcing him to let go of his grip. 

"Sometimes...it's just too hard. Being alone.'' He spoke softly, while his eyes followed the curve of her arms down to her hands. His fingers rose, slightly, inches away from hers. "The dark that surrounded us was like a frenzy. A need” he looked at her, desire lighting in the back of his mind. She knew that look, the look of a lustful predator. Her throat tightened, remembering how raw and powerful their lovemaking was.

“Kat was my exorcist”, he explained, biting his inner cheek and frowning slightly, sensing Rey’s mind deviating to Poe and what she had done to convince him to help. 

" _ This _ is hard" she moved a hand between them "I thought I could control it. But when I close my eyes and I see you…and her. And I feel it, punching through me, trying to take over".

Ben tried to silence her, cupping her face and pinning her body against the wall with his own. She closed her eyes, losing herself into the largeness of his body, feeling his fingers tremble and burning into her flesh. 

His eyes became cloudy. Rey felt a tension wrapping her into a locked embrace and desire swelled inside. She opened her eyes, to be consumed by him. His mouth covered hers, too eagerly and awkwardly, melting her protests. She felt him, hard, brushing against her, his mind screaming, wanting to have her right there.

She broke away, gasping and with an angry look. He frowned like a scared boy, waiting for a reproach. 

"I don't have to like her," she said. The corner of his mouth curved slightly in a half smile. 

\-----

Vlako was watching the black ship slowly descending onto the launch pad and he couldn't stop tapping his foot. They were late, and he could already anticipate Hux's reproach. Someday, he would do something stupid. Right now, all he wanted was to leave that place as fast as possible. 

As the door came down, in a hiss of steam and hydraulics, he started down the ramp to make sure the ordeal went as fast as possible. But he stopped, frozen midway, as the impossibly tall figure of Kylo Ren materialized in front of him.

It wasn’t easy to leave the Chiss commander speechless, but that was the case. Kylo Ren started down the ramp, surrounded by three figures in black armor. Vlako had heard of them once - the Knights of Ren, they were called.

“Commander Vlako.”

The voice was strangely muffled behind the vocoder, but it was enough for Vlako to nod, curtly. He wasn’t a man to stutter, or lick the boots of higher offices. After all, his was a proud kind. 

“Lord Ren. This is a surprise. Sup...General Hux communicated your disappearance a while back.”

Vega looked at the three guards surrounding Kylo Ren, and found their clothes odd, to say the least - old, was perhaps the proper word.

_ Don’t like the stare _ , Hiram muttered through the bond. Ben exhaled slowly. 

Stormtroopers emerged from the entrance and formed a line surrounding the launch pad, arms drawn. Vlako would not take any chances, it seemed. 

_ Wise _ .

The Supreme Leader stepped closely, measuring his words at each step, seeing Vlako’s eyes narrowing, quizzical of why he would be there. Suddenly, the Chiss felt a jolt of electricity and warping of the Force, rushing past him, missing him by inches. He heard the clamor of plastoid armour being tossed to the wall, and the sound of weapons falling to the ground. He looked over his shoulder: all stormtroopers had fallen. 

Vlako’s left eye twitched. He coughed, to shake the feeling away, as Kylo Ren stopped beside him. “We could not risk our plans to fall into the enemy's hands”.

Vlako could feel the Supreme Leader’s intense stare through the slits of his mask. He had seen him once without it, the eyes void of feeling, just two dark black holes that would suck the life around him. He felt a chill down his spine. “Off course, Supreme Leader. General Hux was very convincing.”

“As intended," he said, speaking each sylabil very distinctly, as his head did a slow, deliberate movement. Vlako felt like he was a prey and Kylo Ren a predator, smelling the truth out of him. He stopped suddenly, and straightened again. "My master codebreakers are here to survey the last steps of SKL validation”

“Yes, off course" Vlako said, his voice denouncing the awkwardness he felt. He noticed it and clenched his teeth. "This way”. 

As they went into the engineering complex, Ben felt Kat’s intense stare in the back of his neck. Her voice invaded his mind.

_ I sure hope this plan works.  _

The chiss kept a fast pace, down the corridor into the elevator that would bring them to the lower levels. Two other stormtroopers were waiting, along with an odd looking weequay female. A quick look at their attire and Ben immediately hissed the word  _ pirate _ . The weequay gripped her gun, nervously, unsure what to do next.

“What is the meaning of this?”he asked.

Vlako entered the elevator, eyeing the woman sideways. “We had some trouble with the engineering team, a while back. Some of them were able to get to the mines. General Hux sent some help”. 

The last word was spoken with a hint of despise, which caused the woman to snear. Her eyes drifted to Kylo Ren and she stepped back, gluing herself to the wall of the elevator, as if his massive form was going to swallow her whole. She was nervous, afraid even. 

_ Pirate rats _ . 

Ben could feel Jin’s laughter vibrating through their force bond. But nevertheless, he was uneasy with that unforeseen presence. The elevator stopped, and the doors opened into a large operations bay, with holo screens extending throughout the room. Ben looked back in time to see the weequay woman shutting the doors quickly and leaving them.

_ Something’s wrong _ . 

"This way, Supreme Leader" announced Vlako, stepping into one of the aisles filled with holo screens. The previous code droids were waiting by the master computer, waiting. 

Ben saw the line of engineers at the back of the room, lining up the wall. Their faces told stories of hurt, abuse, fear and resistance. One woman, bruised and battered kept looking at him with an intensity he had seen only once before. 

_ You have that same look, from the forest,  _ he remembered. 

_ Monster _ , the woman's eyes screamed. 

Before, it would be something he wouldn't even have spent one fraction of a second thinking about or caring about. But that  _ was _ before. Before her. 

He turned suddenly in other direction, reaching for Rey only to hit a barrier. She was deliberately shutting him out and that made him uneasy. 

"Sir?" 

Vlako was waiting by the mainframe, the codebreakers lining up behind. Kylo approached the holoscreen and looked at the five lines of code blinking. He nodded to one of his Knights to approach. 

Jin stood in front of the screen and raised his hand, removing his glove and revealing a misshapen limb, the fingers beginning to stretch and lengthen. Vlako was speechless: a sentient. 

Jin's fingers twisted and squirmed until they formed the perfect fit into the port connector on the side of the holoscreen. 

"This will take a few moments" he announced, after an initial scan. 

Ben looked at the engineers, still lining the back wall, one by one. Which one had been the mole? His gaze fell again over the woman, still frowning at him with feral intentions. 

_ No. Not you. But…someone…close _

She felt his stare and straightened a little, her stare shifting nervously to her left side. Ben saw one of the men staring at her, trying to get her attention. It was obvious that he wanted her to stop staring. 

_ There you are _ . 

It was easy to go into one's mind. It felt like plugging into a pool, not knowing how hot or cold it could be. Most people, non Force users, it was an easy ordeal. He looked at the man, who immediately stopped fidgeting and relaxed. 

_ You. Your name. _

The man clenched his teeth, trying to fight the intrusion. But he was no match for the Force. 

_ Vvv…Vvvega _ .

_ What is the code ID? Tell me _ . 

Ben saw the man jerk towards something in his pocket. Something metal: a weapon. He projected his hand and Vega stopped, but the movement was noticed by Vlako, who turned to look at the engineers. 

"Anything wrong?" 

Ben pursed his lips, trying to concentrate. Vega was trembling, and the woman also noticed it. 

_ Don't do anything stupid or all is lost. _

The woman tried to get to Vega but was stopped by a trooper. Vlako stomped over to the party, and Ben was able to focus on the task once more. Jin was waiting, a frown of concern passing through the bond the Knights shared. 

_ Do you want to see your children again? _

Ben dug deeper, through the folds of Vega's consciousness, hacking through thoughts and memories. There were instances of the past, passing by.

The woman, hurting. A child screaming. Hux. A group of elders boarding a shuttle. Every scream, every hurtful feeling was finding a way into his soul, like it never had before. He had been numb with Darkness, but now everything was felt. But underneath the pain and turmoil, Ben could see it: a blue light of a holo, shining in the palm of a child's hand. Of Rey and Luke. 

_ Hope _

And in the Light, Rey. Rey was there.

_ It’s… _

_ Tell me now! _

Vlako was approaching the engineer, shouting commands to the troopers. Ben could see it, the code, flashing inside Rey’s eyes.

_ XY 145 Z4R _

Jin was quick to isolate the code and immediately got to work, burying it deeply within the master mainframe of the SLK launching codes, making sure no one could ever find it.

_ A few seconds now. _

Vega fell to the floor, panting, the chiv in his hand dropping to the floor. He was ready to die to protect the code.

“It’s done”, Jin announced, his tentacles exiting the mainframe slot and going back to its original form. He quickly placed the glove on and resumed the position, among his two companions. Vega was picking up the chiv, while the troopers held Vega.

“What is the meaning of this? What were you thinking?”

Ben moved to stop him, but Kat grabbed his arm. 

“No. Let him do it, otherwise he will suspect something”

It was clear what was passing through Vega’s mind, as he felt the weight of the weapon in his hand.

“Commander Vlako, the code is now complete. Well done.”

Vlako turned around, slowly. He had never heard Kylo Ren thanking or praising anyone before. That was odd, to say the least. And, as if on cue, the doors of the elevator opened, and Krin stepped onto the walkway. After that, it was as if everything was in slow motion. 

Two praetorian guards appeared out of nowhere, as Krin shouted to the Knights and raised his weapon, firing into the line of holoscreens. It hit Vlako like a ton of bricks: Kylo Ren wasn’t supposed to be there at all. 

He felt a sharp pain in his neck, as Alexis grabbed the chiv from his hand and slashed his throat. A spray of blue blood covered her white overalls from chest to legs, as Vega dropped to his knees, reaching for her legs. The troopers started firing at the engineers, but as their companions fell, a roar echoed from beneath their throats and they launched themselves over the troopers.

On the platform, Jin, Kat and Hiram were already engaged in combat with the praetorians, their plastoid armour vibrating at each blow of weapon and of the Force, bouncing off of them like nothing. Ben jumped to the corridor, trying to reach Krin who was already backing away into the elevator.

“I see you Ben Solo! And I see your scavenger rat!” he shouted, before the doors closed, leaving Ben powerless to stop him. He reached to his side and found no saber. He clenched his fists and trembled with fury, feeling the anger and frustration building up inside of him, the monster wanting to scream and take hold. He fumbled with the button of his helmet, releasing it and tossing it away - it was too stifling, it was always too much, too much.

He looked at his knights, fighting the two guards that towered over them, clad in black armour.

_ A homage to your grandfather _ .

Somehow, the image of Hux hovering and lustfull of the blood spilled on the floor was enough to unravel him. He marched down the corridor, truculent, the Force weighing him down, pushing everyone aside. A praetorian held a vibro axe straight to his head, and with his bare hand he launched towards the blade, feeling the scorch burning him. He screamed at the guard, his other hand reaching for the chest plate punching it violently until the plastoid began to give, imploding with a gnarly crunching sound, as if the man was being crushed inside of it. 

Ben let go of the blade, not noticing the injuries in his hand and pivoted low, hurling his body to the other incoming guard, slamming against his legs and making him topple back. He pushed his hands back and, like a hammer, slammed the chest of the guard with such power that the armour broke and his hands punched through the body, spraying blood over his face. The man jerked and stopped.

Everyone was silent. The engineers were huddled behind the screens. The knights were still gripping their weapons, as if expecting something to emerge from the body of Ben Solo. Kat was trembling, unable to speak before the display of power that she had just witnessed. 

Ben was panting, hunched like an animal. He wiped the blood from his hand and covered his injured hand with his glove.

“He is going for Rey. We need to move, NOW” he shouted. He got up and stomped to the engineers. “Where are your people being kept?”

Everyone was too afraid to talk. They were attending to the injured, some lay dead on the floor. Ben saw the woman - Alexis - lying on the floor, next to Vlako. He approached them: Vlako was alive, his hand covering his neck wound. He would only last minutes. The red eyes of the chiss commander glowed with fury, looking at Ben.

“You...you...are no...Ren” he gurgled, before finally going limp.

Ben stood there, his mind throbbing. Those words would have offended him into striking back. But now, they meant nothing. Slowly, he turned to the engineers.

“Don’t make me hurt you” he stated, the Force making his limbs twitch, yearning to go to Rey, to join her. Being apart was too much for his body, he felt physically hill, with tremors and shakes.

Vega stepped forward, ignoring the collective gasp of his colleagues. His eyes roamed over Alexis and Vega, until finally they came to rest over Ben Solo.

“I will lead you to them _ ” _

_ \---- _

Rey followed the signal of the holos for some time. It was weak, but it was there. It hadn't been easy to convince Ben to separate into groups, but their chances would be improved if they worked on both missions at the same time. 

She could still feel his eyes weighing over every inch of her face, as if committing it to memory. As the ramp of the ship raised, her heart shrunk remembering Crait and the intense pain she had felt once the door had hissed shut before her. 

_ I'll come back for you. _

Words whispered into the flow of their bond, before she raised her own defence to ready herself for the task ahead. She wouldn't risk his mission. 

The trip had been quiet, with Rey taking the helm and eyeing the three knights Ben had insisted to accompany her. One was the Korun, Menkab Rodsu of his name, one of the youngest jedi promises to have trained under Luke. The second one was Naomi, with her cat like features and a short tail she managed to conceal. And she was strong with the Force, which made her fast beyond belief. And finally Dalax, from Sisk, who had been snatched from a stormtrooper colony as a youngling.

Their stories echoed through the Force without Rey having to utter a single word. They did not hide like Ben had done, once, but projected their stories fully - the Dark and the Light, the twisted parts of their history, the killings, burnings, and the arrival of Snoke into the group and how a wedge had been raised between Kylo Ren and them, who did not want to abide to anyone ever again. So strong was that resolution, that they even went against their leader, turning their backs on him and disappearing into the outer regions.

“So why help us?”, Rey finally asked.

Naomi cracked her neck in an odd way, as if that pause was enough for her to think on what to respond. 

“We were shown what would happen if we didn’t”

Rey waited for her to develop the statement, which she didn’t. Rey looked at Rodsu and Dalax, but she only got cold and deep stares, weighing over the silence. She closed her eyes and saw, for a moment, what was in their minds.

It was enough for her to let go of the commands and crash into the chair, gripping the armrests with such strength that she was able to rip the fabric. She got up, panting, and took a few steps around the cockpit. The three knights remained quiet, their eyes following in unison. She finally settled, wiping the sweat from her brow, and got back to her seat.

_ Focus Rey. You made a promise.  _

That promise was all she had right now to hold on to. That, and Ben Solo - he couldn’t see what she saw. She looked at Naomi.

“It's always difficult to keep things from a former leader. But we promised the lady Organa we wouldn’t”

Rey closed her eyes, feeling her thread to Ben wrapped around her heart. For a moment, she felt the waves lapping at her feet. She raised her defences, the wall shutting their sacred place behind it, safely. He would not see it, he couldn’t know of it. 

The beep of the holo was getting stronger. 

“We are getting closer”

That was the sign for all three of the knights to get up and go into the back, to change into First Order uniforms. Rey didn’t want to know how they had acquired those, but it was necessary for their ruse to work. 

The plan had been executed many other times before: she would be a prisoner, delivered to work in the mines. That would grant them access to the main station, from where they would disarm the guards and open the mine shafts to free the prisoners. Simple enough. That would be the bargain to get the engineers cooperating with them and possibly help in the fight against Hux. 

“There!” she pointed into the building carve into the purple rock before her, on a cliff to the left side. Rey could make out the forms of an old volcano, now extinct, the crater now an open pit. The ship circled the hole and Rey could see, to her horror, the children working below. 

The small bodies heaved and shook, with the weight of the blunt axes and the boxes they pushed onto the hover platforms. Foreman were scattered and Rey could see the lighting of whips being cracked, here and there. A fine purple mist rose from the crater, covering everything in a sickly dust. There were so many. So many children. The scavenger felt her eyes water, remembering her younger days, back in Jakku. Right now, that childhood did not’ seemed as rough as compared to what was before her.

“It’s like a hive” said Dalax, drily. “I’ve seen many in the outer regions. It goes on forever. Republic, Jedi, Empire, crime syndicates, First Order...they all need resources. They all need the materials to keep the war machine going.”

Rey felt her heart harden, listening to those dry words. Of course, whoever owned the metals to build the technology would always have the upper hand. Her mind went to Rose and her neverending arguments with Poe.

“They are hailing us, I’ve sent down the codes. Cuffs on.”

____

The platform descended and the usual committee was now assembled at the entry. As she descended the ship, pushed forward by one of her “captors”, she was faced with the mouth of the cave that accessed the hive. She shivered: the black, scorched vines around the oval shape, just like the cave - their cave - on Tatooine. Just like the cave - her cave - on Ach-too. 

“Now, now, what do we have here?”

Rey glared at the person who had interrupted her thoughts. The man in front of them looked nothing like a First Order officer. In fact, it looked like one of the bounty hunters that scattered around Jaku, looking for trouble. Instantly, she felt Dalax straighten behind her, becoming more menacing and gigantic. It had the effect he wanted - the man double down on the coquiness and yellow smile.

“Delivery to the mines. Special treatment.”

Their host spat to the ground as a group of men emerged from the entrance behind him. They were dressed in a mixture of rags and armour, dirty with blood. They spoke without speaking: they meant business.

“Special treatment hum?” he stepped forward and perked his neck, as if sniffing Rey out “What did you do little mouse? To piss off Hux?"

Rey couldn’t help it. Whether it was from the revolting smell of his breath or the yellow smile, but she spat on his face. An action which found immediate retribution in the form of a blow to the stomach by Naomi, standing on her left. Rey toppled to the ground, coughing, while the man hovered her, laughing.

“She is a feisty little one. I suppose she deserves what is coming to her.” 

Naomi reached for Rey’s arm and forced her up. “Where is your supervisor? Your commander?”

The man stopped smiling.

“He’s around. Comme, let’s get this over with.”

Naomi’s grip on Rey’s arm tightened. This was not traditional set up of the First Order, she could hear the woman thinking.

He turned, heading back into the entrance while the party followed. Dalax and Rodsu pushed Rey forward, and she could single out words ushered between the vibration of the Force.

_ Get it together, scavenger. _

As she walked past the entrance, there was a smell of seaweed and moist. Her heart fluttered, reaching for Ben during a fraction of a second. The other men waited until they went into the tunnel to follow behind, keeping a safe distance. It wasn’t enough to make Naomi more at ease, and Rey could feel the tension bouncing back and forth between the three companions. 

_ Something feels wrong. _

After what seemed like miles and miles of dark corridors and doors, they were finally ushered into a wide open room, with a large glass panel that overlooked the crater, where they could now hear the echoes of the clink of metal on rock and the wailing and whimpering of children, suffering under the harsh sun. She swallowed, ashamed of the pain she felt in her stomach from Rodsu’s blow. It was sure to be nothing compared to the suffering down bellow. 

_ Easy scavenger, don’t throw a fit now _ . 

It all happened too quickly. They heard the door shut behind them and another door opening. As they turned, the room was flooded with soldiers, clad in black armour. Rey recognized the equipment immediately: praetorians. As the stomping became louder, a voice shot loudly on the intercom.

“Do you think we wouldn’t know?”

The voice was deep and grave. There was static for a few seconds before a laugh came through. Dalax shifted, his hand slowly reaching for his weapon.

“And now your final minutes will be of training practice for the Supreme Leader personal guard.”

Rey froze for a fraction of a second, thinking about Ben. Could  _ he _ have failed? 

She dropped all barriers and saw their thread, taunt and clear before her. The adrenaline surged through her, and his heart echoed hers in unyson. She heard him screaming savagely; felt his hands cracking the controls of the ship and the Dark pooling, hungry for blood. 

She sucked in a breath, trying to regain control and closing herself off. The Knights finally reached for their weapons. Rey discarded the handcuffs, which dropped to the ground with a loud thump, before immediately directing a blow to the nearest oncoming praetorian. The giant staggered momentarily, the armour absorbing the shock: it was enough time for her to reach for the lightsaber tucked inside her boot. 

The blue light ignited and the knights stood in front of her, shielding the first charge of the praetorian guard. They aligned in perfect formation, wielding their different melee weapons. 

“Its four of us and seven of them” Naomi spat, throwing away the hat, gripping her spear and clicking it into life. It hummed with electricity.

“Good odds"' Rodsu answered, grinning and licking his lips, the two blades flowing neatly in his hands. None of them had lightsabers, which Rey found odd for some reason. She could feel Ben pounding against their bond, his adrenaline pushing her forward, to fight.

There was a slight taste of blood inside her mouth. Her entrails coiled. The monster reared its ugly head, breaking the ranks and launching itself on the praetorians with a primal scream.

____

His eyes widened, as the monstrous ship emerged from hiperspace. He had passed through several ships when he was just FN 2187, from mopping floors to combat drills: never he had seen such a giant among the First Order main fleet.

“Krif, that thing is massive!” Poe whispered. Rose frowned at him: she had caught a hint of respect in his tone, something that could only spring out of his admiration for all things that flew. She looked at Finn, who was standing by the holoscreen, waiting for the blue light to shine through the beaker. So far, nothing. His eyes darted to Rose, who smiled at him, thinking back to when she had first kissed him. He smiled back.

Poe blinked and turned to D’Acy.”Tell me that they have evacuated” he rushed towards her, pressing the call buttons on the holo. Immediately a different siren broke out and the red lights flashed once more, to all battlestations and to war. 

“Yes General, I have confirmation that Lieutenant Connix’s ship entered light speed.” 

Poe sighed, relieved. At least something would be left behind, in case everything else failed. Connix had been close to Leia, a good learner. She would rebuild the Resistance if needed. 

“But General...the planet cannot be evacuated in time.” D’Acy continued, looking at the screen and then at the holo. Poe walked towards the window, witnessing - in horror - a cloud of ships trying to exit the planet. Some were crashing against each other, in the frenzy to escape. Some were coming towards their moon.

“We are already receiving distress signals”, the Commander finished, turning to look at Poe waiting for an order. Poe knew that to harbour fugitives would mean to give away their position. He looked at Finn in turn, his eyes alert for the flash of blue light that would save them.

“Finn, tell me when that light comes through. Rose, are the devices ready?”

“They are General. You give the order and I will send out the frequency to initiate them.”

“Any sign of help coming through?”

There was an awkward silence. No one answered.

_ Yet. _

Poe shivered, wondering if he had just imagined Leia’s voice. He turned to the window, hoping to see her floating in space, coming to rescue them. But all he saw was the monstrous ship initiating maneuvers, slowly approaching the planet’s orbit. 

“Right” he announced “BB-8 we are going.”

The droid chirped and rolled down the ramp towards the main door, disappearing rapidly down the corridor. Poe turned to follow him.

“General! POE!” Finn shouted, starting to follow the pilot down the ramp, abandoning his vigil “What are you doing? You are still recovering!”

Poe turned to face his friend. Finn was so different from the first time they had crossed paths: the jittery manner, the nervousness, always looking over his shoulder, it was gone. He was confident now, sure of himself and what he meant to the resistance. “I am going where I need to be: in my X-Wing”, Poe responded. Finn was going to launch into a complaint, but Poe moved his hand, stopping him. He looked at Rose who was tense, observing the scene.

“Rose, you take the command. Wait until the fleet is deployed and in position: we are going to try to mess things up.” Poe smiled, thinking about the nasty things he would say to taunt Hux. ”Warn the commanders in the other star cruisers - they need to put on a good show to draw their attention at least four times.”

The mechanic gasped for a second, but spruced up immediately, as if taking in the mantle of responsibility. She was the most level-headed person Poe knew. She was ready. “Yes General.”

Poe nodded “Good luck. And may the Force be with you.”

The doors shut behind him, isolating the command. Finn stood by the door for a moment, his heart shrinking in anguish - first Rey, now Poe. He felt helpless.

“Finn! Look, the holo!”

He turned, watching the blue light shining on top of the table. Everyone started cheering - a small victory in front of the most absolute doom. Finn grabbed the device with shaking hands, wrapping his fingers around it and bringing it to his mouth, closing his eyes and enjoying the relief of knowing her friend to be safe. 

The ship vibrated and he turned his attention to the screen. The SK ship was opening their gates, pouring a swarm of tie-fighters and the trained eye of the former stormtrooper identified the formation pattern.

“Rose, tell Poe the good news. And that those TIE fighters are going to flank the ship in a swarm, probably to protect the SKL canon”

“I think he knows”, D’Acy replied.

A flood of X-wings and assault ships appeared below, and rapidly covered their screen. It was the first time they saw all the recruiting effort in the outer regions panning through. Men and women that Poe, Rose, Rinn and Rey had trained relentlessly.

Finn could see the black and orange streak of Poe’s fighter glaring among the others. He could hear his hoot over the com, celebrating the news: the worm was safe inside the SKL’s main code. Finn allowed himself to feel hope trickling in. 

_____

It was an out of body experience, something that he hadn’t felt since the time he had brought his uncle’s Jedi temple down. Not being in control was something he thought of as weakness, only bubbling to surface in tense occasions - with Snoke, with Hux, always with Luke. 

But now it was different, he welcomed it because it made him stronger. He felt the dark building inside, pounding against his chest; just as vengeance had made him do terrible things that night, he could feel the same violence taking over his torso, his arms, his hands. He could feel his jaw cracking from the tension in his teeth. The Force was too strong now.

Kat, Jin and Hiram took a step back, feeling the warping of the Force, like a magnetic field, buzzing wildly in their ears and making their teeth rattle. The wind was howling, making it hard to see an entrance.

Despite his hatred for sand, he kept pushing. The knights felt the ground shake at each step, saw the outline of his body, bent, right in front - the sand never touching him, swerving to the sides like water. His fingers held tight to the sword Kat had given him, wishing it was his lightsaber. 

Suddenly, a low, vibrating sound cut through the wind, and the silhouettes of the praetorian guards emerged in front, black as night. 

Ben’s eyes widened. His pulse shot up. He threw his hands upwards, curled them into fists, and took a deep breath. And then he came crashing down, stomping them on the ground. He roared with the effort, the wind carrying and amplifying it, like a monster of old. The explosion caught everyone off guard, scattering the sand away. The knights staggered, but held firm. 

One guard fell off balance, and in a breath Ben was on him, like a vulture descending on the doomed prey. The blade drew an elegant arc in the air before finding its sheath in the junction between shoulder and arm, severing the main artery. 

A spray of blood forced Ben to redraw, just in time to avoid the spear that the closest guard threw at him. He caught the hilt in mid air, quickly pivoting and using the balance to return the blade, which lodged in the neck of his opponent. 

_ Two down, four to go. _

Hiram dropped to his knees, allowing Kat to use him as a catapult, propelling her forward over one of the guards. Her blade met the guard’s polearm dead on, and she grunted with the effort as the electricity the weapon carried into her body.

Ben hurled his hand to the next opponent, getting the praetorian full in the chest. He wavered, the armour absorbing most of the shock, but he recovered in time to defend himself from an incoming axe, wielded by one angry mandalorian. The vibro blades hummed and buzzed, the sparks of electricity making his hands shake with the effort.

There was a cry and Ben turned to see Jin reaching for his side, blood oozing freely from an open wound. He grabbed the heavy sword and launched it into the guard’s back, but it wasn’t enough. The man was huge, bigger than his companions. He stumbled, surprised, but continued attacking the sentient, his hands twisting and stretching, trying to find some form of weakness he could explore, a point of entry to direct the Force. 

_ Kat, Hiram  _ \- he cried through their connection.

The praetorian caught him by the neck and squeezed as if he was nothing but a sheet of paper. Her companions yelled in anger and pain, fists clenched in a fury that was hard to contain. The ground shook with the Force, as Ben threw himself at the hilt of the sword and pushed forward with both hands, in a guttural growl, fueled by the pain of his companions. The sword impaled the guard, which finally stopped moving, dropping Jin to the ground.

There was a loud thump. The next two guards fell to the ground, lifeless. Kat dropped her weapon and ran towards her comrade, throwing herself over him, searching frantically for any signs of life. Hiram buckled, his chest hurting as if something had grabbed his insides and pulled them out. 

Ben stood over Jin’s body and all he could see was Han Solo, dropping into the pit of Starkiller base. 

__________

The entrance to the compound. 

Ben’s eyes spared a second to recognize the twisted, dried branches that covered the rim of the oval shaped door, wondering how things were connected. Beyond the entrance, darkness. The air felt lifeless and stale, leaving a weird taste in his mouth.

“It’s the mineral”, Hiram replied.

“Where are they? Do you  _ feel _ anything?” Kat asked. She delivered the question in a way that left space for hope. Hers, not of Rey’s. Ben’s stare was enough to make her lower her eyes. She had gone too far.

He turned, reaching out with his feelings, through the tunnels and passageways.

_ Rey. _

Nothing.

_ Rey! _

It was as if someone had turned the lights in a very dark room. Ben started running down the dark corridor, turning right and left, with Hiram and Kat following close behind. As they made a final turn, they were met with shots from a group of pirates. Ben recognized the weequay, shooting away with an E-11 blaster, a stormtrooper’s weapon. He stepped back as Hiram removed his own blasters from their holsters. 

“These are not praetorians. Which is good.”

He snatched the cartridge in, pressing it with a quick thump of the hand. The loading chirps caused Kat to smile.

“Target practice” he announced, in a very matter of fact way. 

The mandalorian held the blaster up and turned the curve. There was an immediate explosion of sounds from the crossfire, and they could hear Hiram shuffling across the corridor. A few shouts and angry words spoken in a language either Ben or Kat could decipher, until it all fell quiet. 

Kat peeked around, noticing the smoke from the shots. When it dissipated, Hiram was standing in the middle, casually brushing off the particle dust from his beloved armour. 

“This is the way”, Ben mumbled, before rushing down the corridor. He held his hands against the door, the pull from the Force stronger. Rey was there.

“Rey!” he shouted, pushing his hands against the door, the metal starting to bend and squeak. Kat signaled Hiram, which promptly blasted the commands on the far left side. The door shifted an inch forward and opened.

The room had, at some point, served as a command bridge, overviewing the terrace in front, where the open pits were located. But now, it was only a mash of metal, rock and plastoid. There was a buzz of electricity from the severed circuits of the holoboards. A red light was still blinking on the screen, indicating the departure of a vessel in a cargo bay somewhere.

There were bodies of praetorians scattered on the floor. Someone had removed their helmets: young men and women, all of them. The marks of whips and electro shocks in their temples where still fresh, which meant they were recent to the work. 

Rodsu was leaning against the railing, injured. Hiram ran to him, to help him up, but the korun was frantically pointing above, to the window. The glass overlooking the crater was shattered, the wind carrying shouts and screams from below. The children were crying. Ben stumbled towards the window, expecting the worse. 

There was a considerable height between the station and the mine pit, bellow. The wall was broken by two crevices that stood out into the crater. The children were shouting, not crying, cheering the warrior that had come to help them. 

Dalax was dead, broken on the first crevice. 

“Rey!” Ben shouted. He could feel her, but couldn’t see her. 

She appeared below, on the second crevice. She was being pushed to the ridge by two praetorians. No saber to defend herself. Ben stood over the edge of the window, before being stopped by Kat.

“Don’t! You’ll kill yourself”

He looked at her, again the strong, stern look. He knew what he was doing. The question was: was she? Kat slowly eased her grip and nodded. Hiram stood by her, shoulder to shoulder, directing the Force towards Ben, helping him to descend the cliff. 

Rey was dodging the thrusts of the two praetorians, but slowly moving closer to the edge. She could feel the rocks falling below. The children were shouting, angry cries; the Force drumming in her ears, she was losing focus. Her heart was racing with the knowledge that Ben was close, he was close! Suddenly, a shout above all others. She looked up and saw a flash of silver dropping from above: her saber. The weapon found her hand effortlessly, the finger quickly flipping the switch. 

She dropped to the floor and tumbled forward, emerging between the two praetorians, who pivoted their weapons to the side. Not quick enough: Rey jumped up, her legs dragging her above them, in a perfect arc. Her lightsaber drew a graceful curve, close enough to be able to slash the joints between neck and shoulder of both guards, who dropped to the floor, motionless. 

“Rey” 

She turned around and saw Ben. Relief overtook her and her knees buckled, but Ben was able to run and grab her before she hit the floor. He was gasping, chest convulsing, feeling her weak and heavy with pain. One hand wrapped around her waist, the other arm supported her neck.

“No, no, no. Stay with me” he pleaded, urgently “REY”

Ben looked at her. Her eyes were closed, mouth slightly open. His hand went to her chest and it was a relief when he found a rhythm.

“Let me...let me catch my breath. Please.” she whispered, finally.

He smiled; a hint of a sob caught in his throat, which caused Rey to react, astonished.

“I felt...I felt you leaving,” he said “never do that to me again”

Rey smiled, her hand slowly reaching for his back, trying to support herself to stand. Ben looked up: Kat and Hiram were surrounding Dalax’s body, paying their respects to another fallen comrade. Kat looked at the couple below, and couldn’t help to let tears fall. She quickly turned her face and angrily wiped away the tears.

“Ben, listen”

The shouts of the children continued from below. But they weren’t random cries of pain or fear. They neared the edge of the cliff, overlooking the main crater and mine shafts all around it. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of children, different ages, genders and species. Mistreated, undernourished - but with hope in their eyes, at the sight of their saviors.

Suddenly, Miriam appeared on another outpost, directly across the crater: it appeared to be another control room. Ben saw her moving around the boards, pressing buttons. As the electric bracelets fell to the ground, one after the other, the clink of metal against the rock was gradually overpowered by cries of joy.

Rey and Ben stood side by side, holding each other hand, listening to the chanting bellow.

“Jedi! Jedi! Jedi!”

Rey looked at Ben, their bond singing inside both of them. A tear ran down his face. 

It was the vision from Acht-too. Their vision.

  
  


TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
